Nationwide Deepens Relationship With VitusVet

Nation's largest pet insurance provider makes strategic investment in pet mobile solutions provider

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Jul 31, 2019, 14:00 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Pet owners with a sick pet want nothing more than to get their furry family member healthy again…and fast.

When VitusVet introduced their smartphone app, it was with the goal of helping pet owners get their pets on the road to recovery as quickly as possible. This convenient and easy-to-use technology is one of the reasons why Nationwide initially partnered with the company in 2016.

Today, Nationwide is announcing a strategic investment in VitusVet, one of the nation's leading providers of mobile solutions for pet owners and veterinary practices. Nationwide will also serve on the VitusVet board of directors. The investment is not part of the Nationwide venture capital investment fund.

The investment further strengthens the relationship between the two innovative entities that began three years ago.

"When Nationwide began our partnership with VitusVet, we saw the potential of how their groundbreaking technology could streamline the process of a customer submitting a pet insurance claim. We, and our members, have seen that potential realized during the past three years," said Peter McMurtrie, Nationwide's senior vice president of emerging businesses. "This investment will help VitusVet continue their work of finding new and exciting ways to improve the connection between pet owners and pet health care providers."

"The health of pets is a priority for VitusVet, so we are very happy to be deepening our partnership with Nationwide," said Mark Olcott, DVM, co-founder and CEO of VitusVet. "With this investment we will continue to create easy-to-use technology that improves the connection between veterinary practices and pet owners."

As part of the initial partnership, Nationwide pet insurance customers were given exclusive access to VitusVet app claims submission function. To date, Nationwide pet insurance members have filed more than 635,000 claims through the VitusVet app.

The VitusVet mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS mobile devices, offers users an easy, three-step process to file pet insurance claims. Pet owners are asked to simply confirm pet information, add claim information and receipts, and review the claim prior to submission.

Additionally, app users can take advantage of other convenient features of the application, including accessing their pet's medical records, receiving medication reminders, and sharing access with family, friends and veterinarians.

Veterinary practices have also benefited from the VitusVet technology, which allows them to streamline their appointment processes, monitor their practice's performance and simplify client reminders.

To learn more about pet insurance for your dog, cat, bird or other companion animal, visit www.petinsurance.com.

About VitusVet
VitusVet strengthens the connection between pet care providers and pet owners to help practices run more efficiently and ensure the health and happiness of pets. Founded in 2013, VitusVet's complete veterinary practice communication platform streamlines appointment requests, enables text and picture messaging with pet owners, simplifies digital medical record sharing, and monitors practice performance with an easy-to-use dashboard. Learn more about VitusVet at www.vitusvet.com.

About Nationwide pet insurance
With more than 750,000 insured pets, Nationwide is the first and largest provider of pet health insurance in the United States. Nationwide pet health insurance plans cover dogs, cats, birds and exotic pets for multiple medical problems and conditions relating to accidents, illnesses and injuries. Medical plans are available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Underwritten by Veterinary Pet Insurance Company (CA), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2017); National Casualty Company (all other states), Columbus, OH, an A.M. Best A+ rated company (2017). Agency of Record: DVM Insurance Agency. Pet owners can find Nationwide pet insurance on Facebook or follow on Twitter. For more information about Nationwide pet insurance, call 800-USA-PETS (800-872-7387) or visit petinsurance.com.

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poors. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Nationwide contact:
Jarrett Dunbar
(614) 249-1591
[email protected]

VitusVet contact:
Heather Fields
(410) 530-3303
[email protected]

SOURCE Nationwide